A TEENAGER killed last September when his car hit a minibus at the notorious Barry accident blackspot Five Mile Lane, died accidently, a coroner has said.

Gareth James Jones, 18, of The Downs, Cardiff, was returning home on September 30 after dropping his girlfriend at her house in Rhoose.

An inquest in Cardiff last Friday heard Mr Jones, a student, was driving his red Vauxhall Belmont round an S-bend near the Welsh Hawking Centre when he collided with a minibus at 10.45pm.

Minibus driver Martin Smith, of Swansea, was working for Airport Express and driving to Cardiff International Airport in heavy rain.

He said: "As I came down the hill I saw a car coming from around the bend. I could see he was a young boy and was struggling with the car.

"He was going about 60mph. I nodded to him and said 'having fun?' and he pulled a face. At the last moment he tried to swing it to stop... but there was so much water on he slid straight into me."

Mr Smith said he stopped the minibus before impact.

He got out and lifted the unconscious youngster out of the car and another motorist carried out first aid. An ambulance took Mr Jones to the University Hospital of Wales where staff attempted unsuccessfully to revive him.

PC Matthew Curtis, who attended the accident, said: "I believe Mr Jones successfully negotiated the left-hand bend but lost control on the right-hand bend and rotated the car in a clockwise direction. He collided with the minibus.

"It is unlikely the minibus was stationary at the point of impact. I can find no mechanical defect in Mr Jones' car. There is nothing to imply he was travelling outside the 60mph speed limit."

Coroner Lawrence Addicott said: "Gareth died accidentally. The cause of death was multiple injuries."